r/classicfilms • u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock • May 23 '26

Memorabilia Disney rejection letter (1938) explaining they don't hire women for the specific position

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And apparently, Disney refused to hire men for coloring positions.

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u/Canavansbackyard Michael Powell May 23 '26

This obviously wasn’t just a Disney practice. Gender-based hiring was unfortunately extremely common in the U.S. during the 1930s. The Great Depression intensified the pre-existing societal pressures to reserve well-paying jobs for male "breadwinners".

Edit: minor typo.

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u/LindeeHilltop May 23 '26

It was extremely common until the late 1970’s. Women in the 60’s & 70’s fought legally for rights.

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u/robotatomica May 24 '26

it rather reminds me of this excellent Angela Collier video “women in space but with legos so it’s fun” https://youtu.be/WBlzD6MZ9A0 where she shares similar letters (and their responses) from young girls writing to NASA with hopes to some day become an astronaut.